Diversification and Accumulation in Rural Tanzania

Download or read book Diversification and Accumulation in Rural Tanzania written by Pekka Seppälä and published by Nordic Africa Institute. This book was released on 1998 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent studies on rural Africa increasingly reveal a pattern of development which is more complex than that proposed in earlier unilinear theories. The researchers have recently located intricate systems of patronage, local networks of cooperation, indigenous social safety nets but also alarming rates of differentiation. This study extends the analysis of local complexity to the labour sphere, showing how rural producers tend to diversify into multiple sources of income resulting in innovative straddling between them. The diversification which is a necessity for the poorest households provides the means for risk aversion and accumulation for the wealthier ones. Diversification and Accumulation in Rural Tanzania is a thought-provoking and theoretically challenging work showing how cultural issues penetrate economic practices and modify the outcome of any economic interventions.